General Safety Warning:
Products sold by BBTS may be intended for Adult Collectors. Products may contain sharp points, small parts,
choking hazards, and other elements not suitable for children under 16
years old.

Of Greek Gods & Testy Aliens

We've taken the voyages of the starship Enterprise one adventure further with a series of original movie-style art print sets commemorating every episode of Star Trek, the iconic American television series that aired from 1966 to 1969.

The Original Series has become a cult classic, and its leading-edge plot lines and mores have influenced many science-fiction TV shows and movies that have followed.

Designer/illustrator Juan Ortiz talks about the inspiration for our nineteenth set of Star Trek: The Original Series Art Prints, which includes:

· Episode 10: The Corbomite Maneuver. A child's hand reaches to grab the U.S.S. Enterprise in this retro design. The corbomite manuever refers to a bluff by Captain James T. Kirk: that if fired upon, corbomite in his starship's hull will detonate, destroying both the Enterprise and the I.S.S. Fesarius piloted by alien Balok. Ortiz explains, "When taken into the context of the sixties, mankind was in the process of taking baby steps into a new frontier. So it seemed like the writer wanted to tell a story about just how far mankind still needed to go. My image could be Balok's hand or it could also suggest the hand of mankind reaching out to the stars, reminiscent of the apes from 2001: A Space Odyssey."

· Episode 31: Who Mourns for Adonais? American graphic designer Saul Bass and Spanish artist Pablo Picasso were major influences in this design for an episode in which the Enterprise is held captive by a being on Pollux IV who claims to be the Greek god Apollo. "I think the colors play a big part in this one. I can almost imagine this painted on a wall of an Italian restaurant. Right down to the olive Enterprise," notes the artist.

· Episode 40: Friday's Child. "The work of [Spanish illustrator] Joaquín Pertierra was the inspiration for this [design]. Specifically his Graphic Eye cover from April 1967," says Ortiz. In this episode, the Federation competes with the Klingons for a mining treaty with the warring inhabitants of Capella IV, where a infant is slated to become the next ruler. The artist recalls, "There was a lot of back and forth with colors, sometimes for days. I was also mindful of the posters that came before and after, and whether or not it needed to be more colorful."

· Episode 80: The Cage. This episode, in which Captain Christopher Pike is held captive on Talos IV and test by aliens who create realistic illusions, was the first pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, but was not broadcast until 1988. Ortiz pays homage to the style of Josh Agle, the American artist better known by the nickname Shag. He says, "I had always admired Shag's work, and since this episode wasn't shown until sometime in the '80s, I was able to go more contemporary with it. I thought it would be the best one to mention Alexander Courage [composer of the original series theme music], as well."